Total factor productivity growth accounting in the construction industry of Singapore

Total factor productivity (TFP) determines long‐term economic growth and is a comprehensive industry‐level productivity measure. This paper proposes Jorgenson's method as an appropriate TFP measurement for the construction industry. The method is less restrictive than the conventional Chau's approach, as it does not impose the Hick Neutral Technical Change assumption. Jorgenson's method is then applied to estimate TFP growth in the construction industry of Singapore over 1984–1998. TFP growth is found down by 1.53% per annum over this period, indicating that the performance of TFP in the construction industry lags behind the rest of economy. TFP growth is also found to be fluctuating over time and tends to move in tandem with the construction business cycle.

As a monitor of progress towards TFP achievement, factors influencing TFP growth in the construction industry of Singapore over 1984–1997 are identified. Seven factors are found to be significantly related to TFP growth. Among them, economies of scale, R&D by the industry, investment allowance granted and labour unions are leading contributors to TFP growth; while foreign worker, construction accidents and pre‐cast are major hampers.

The general methodology presented in this study can be applied to other countries. Future studies are required to find appropriate indicators for factors unquantified.     

Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach

The paper analyses the nonlinearities in the impact of localization, diversity, urbanization and competition on firm‐level total factor productivity (TFP), using a large sample of Italian firms from 1999 to 2007. We adopt a panel smooth transition regression model, so that the TFP elasticities are free to vary smoothly across two or more extreme values. Results show that localization economies and Jacobian externalities materialize only for values of, respectively, intra‐industry agglomeration and extra‐sectoral diversity above a certain threshold. Local competition exerts a positive effect on productivity, even though the marginal impact shrinks at high levels of competition. We find instead no evidence of diseconomies of agglomeration.     

Economic geography and misallocation in Pakistan’s manufacturing hub

In this article, we explore whether localization of industries can reduce economic distortions and dispersion in total factor productivity (TFP) among firms in Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province economically. We consider two types of misallocation: (i) dispersion in the distribution of output-based TFP (TFPQ), in particular the survival of low productivity firms in the left tail; and (ii) dispersion in revenue-based TFP (TFPR), indicative of allocative inefficiency. The results are mixed: On the one hand, we find that the distribution of TFPQ is less dispersed in more agglomerated areas, measured by the localization quotient, local productive concentration, and average firm size. At the same time, we find that average TFPQ is also positively related to localization, especially the presence of small firms in the same sector, even though own-firm TFP is lowest for small firms. On the other hand, we do not find evidence that agglomeration improves allocative efficiency measured as deviations in TFPR from the sector average, concluding rather that greater localization of small firms is associated with firms being more output and capital constrained.     

Estimating industry-level productivity trends in the building industry from building cost and price data

A method of measuring total-factor productivity (TFP) trends in the building industry is described in this paper. This method is an improved version of the approach described in a paper by Chau and Walker in that it requires less restrictive assumptions and is theoretically less biased while requiring only slightly more data. With small modification, the same method can be used to measure other productivity trends corresponding to other productivity concepts. The data used in measuring TFP of Hong Kong's building industry are also different from those proposed in Chau and Walker. A number of modifications have been made. These modifications have been possible both as a result of work by Chau and the increased availability of statistics in recent years.

One of the major difficulties in measuring TFP trends in the building or construction industry has been the lack of data. This is also one of the major reasons for the dearth of empirical studies in this area. Very few attempts have been made to solve the problem of data availability. Lowe recognizes the dificulties in obtaining suitable data for measuring TFP of the British construction industry. His suggestion, however, is to use capital productivity as the second-best alternative to TFP rather than solving the problem. Chau and Walker's solution is to develop a method for estimating TFP from construction cost and price data. The method is then used to measure the TFP of Hong Kong's building industry. Since construction cost and price data are usually more readily available in most countries, Chau and Walker's approach is potentially useful in these countries. There are, however, certain deficiencies in Chau and Walker's approach in that some of the underlying assumptions are relatively restrictive.

As more statistics are now available in Hong Kong, this has rendered Chau and Walker's approach a crude tool for making full use of the data. This paper presents a modified approach which requires less restrictive assumptions and can make better use of the newly available data.     

Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data

Do agglomerations stimulate productivity? An extensive literature on agglomeration economies, or urban increasing returns, has analyzed this question with aggregated spatial data. This paper estimates the relationship between agglomeration and productivity at the firm level using static and dynamic models. It makes use of a rich dataset comprising register information on all manufacturing firms in Sweden with 10 or more employees over the period 1997–2004. Three things emerge. First, firms located in larger regions are more productive when controlling for size, human capital, physical capital, ownership structure, import and export, industry classification, and time trend. Second, results from dynamic panel estimations suggests a learning effect in that agglomeration enhances firms’ productivity. Third, the role of agglomeration phenomena does not seem to have a clear coupling to firm size.     

Organisation, ‘anchoring’ of knowledge,and innovative activity in construction

The construction industry is characterised by the widespread use of project organisation. It has been suggested that the relatively low level of innovative activity in the industry can be explained by the temporary nature of firm boundary‐crossing projects. Survey data from the Danish construction industry is used to investigate the importance of learning and ‘anchoring’ of project‐specific knowledge at the firm level for participation in innovative activities. The data cover both the overall Danish construction industry and a specific region, North Jutland, which has a relatively high specialisation of construction workers. Latent class and regression analyses reveal that firms that make extensive use of partnering, together with internal product and process evaluation and knowledge diffusion (labelled ‘knowledge‐anchoring mechanisms’), are more likely to participate in innovative activities than firms which make less use of these mechanisms. This indicates that construction firms are able to compensate for the problems that temporary interorganisational projects may cause in relation to continuous learning at the firm level.     

中国建筑业大型承包企业绩效的测度研究

客观和准确的评价大型承包企业群体的绩效对于整个建筑业的健康发展起着至关重要的作用。采用全要素生产率增长分解和随机边界生产函数方法对大型承包企业全要素生产率进行实证测算分析,并试图与产值利润率和劳动生产率指标进行比较。研究发现大型承包企业2002～2008年的全要素生产率年度平均增长率为9.33%,表明我国建筑业大型承包企业的质量取得了较大的进步,但增长率呈逐年下降的发展趋势。三项指标的比较表明,劳动生产率和产值利润率指标保持了基本的一致性,都呈逐渐增长趋势,而全要素生产率指标则呈逐渐下降趋势。最后对全要素生产率变化的原因进行了分析。     

Human capital in firms and regions: Impact on firm productivity

This paper analyses the importance of human capital for firm productivity and makes a clear distinction between the role of human capital inside and outside of the firm. A multilevel model is used for the business service sector in Sweden controlling for heterogeneity across the industry and municipal level. Human capital in firms in terms of education, experience, and cognitive skills and the firm's overall access to human capital has a positive impact on firm productivity. In addition, firm attributes explain the largest proportion of firm productivity variance.     

Agglomeration and firm‐level productivity: A Bayesian spatial approach

This paper estimates the impact of industrial agglomeration on firm‐level productivity in Chinese manufacturing sectors. To account for spatial autocorrelation across regions, we formulate a hierarchical spatial model and use a Bayesian instrumental‐variable approach. We find that agglomeration of the same industry (i.e., localization) has a productivity‐boosting effect, but agglomeration of urban population (i.e., urbanization) has no such effect. In addition, the localization effect increases with the educational levels of employees and the share of intermediate inputs in gross output. These results may suggest that agglomeration externalities occur through knowledge spillovers and input sharing among firms producing similar manufactures.     

Predicting construction firm performance: an empirical assessment of the differential impact between industry‐ and firm‐specific factors

It is obvious that the performance of firms hinges upon the dynamics of both industry‐ and firm‐specific factors. A less obvious, and perhaps a more important, line of inquiry is that to the extent that they have a bearing on firm performance, how much do these two groups of factors respectively predict firm performance? To date, performance differences among construction firms that stem from industry‐ and firm‐specific differential effect has remained largely unexplored. Using a dataset comprising 526 firms across various construction‐related sectors, the sector‐by‐sector firm performance variation that is attributable to the heterogeneity of both industry‐ and firm‐specific characteristics was empirically examined. That statistically significant results of different effect sizes are found indicates that although these factors are often assumed to be intertwined it is possible to study their respective impact on firm performance. Future studies could usefully replicate and extend this study to construction firms in other countries to further investigate what drives firm performance under different national, industry and firm contexts.     

1993～2003年中国建筑业全要素生产率增长的实证研究

采用非参数Malmquist指数法对中国建筑业全要素生产率(TFP)增长状况及其结构进行了实证分析。研究表明,1993-2003年中国建筑业TFP的增长主要得益于建筑业技术进步水平的提高,而技术效率的下降对其产生了负面影响;东、中、西部地区建筑业TFP增长及其动力存在区域差异;同时也表明区域建筑业发展有收敛趋势,通过技术扩散与学习可实现行业总体和谐发展。     

Guidelines for effective workplace HIV/AIDS intervention management by construction firms

Construction firms have an important role in combating HIV/AIDS in the South African construction industry. The HIV/AIDS intervention management practices of 12 construction firms in Cape Town are examined through interviews and documents. From thematic analysis, five themes emerged: construction firms’ perceptions of HIV/AIDS as a threat to the firm; construction firm interventions; barriers to the success of interventions; the role of service providers; and state-led interventions. A tension exists in managing HIV/AIDS interventions as firms are concerned with productivity and profit maximization, but are becoming more engaged with corporate social responsibility and a higher duty of care towards employees. Interventions should extend beyond awareness and prevention campaigns to include testing and treatment programmes. A guideline checklist for such interventions is proposed. Partnering with specialized service providers is recommended, as well as engaging closely with public sector services. Firms successfully managing their HIV/AIDS response should share their experience with others struggling to respond. Employee issues of stigma and reluctance to disclose need to be addressed. Attention should be paid to the employment structure of the construction industry and to the needs of the informal sector.     

Housing provision in high growth regions. A comparative study of four European sub‐regions

Best‐practice technique as a concept was developed for the purpose of analysing the structure of manufacturing industries. In my article I argue that the concept may also be applied to the construction industry, though the rationale differs somewhat. Instead of considering the technique embodied in the real capital, one should see it as part of the organization in Marshall's meaning. This would lead to different unit operating costs and different labour productivity among firms competing in the same market. The extent of the variation of the labour productivity during the period 1979–84 is shown in the paper. Productivity functions of different efficiency groups are estimated in order to establish the best‐practice production function. In that process it is also shown that during the period 1979–84 the efficiency of the firms using the best‐practice technique grows faster than the efficiency of all other firms.     

Do high-quality local institutions shape labour productivity in Western European manufacturing firms?

We investigate the extent to which regional institutional quality shapes firm labour productivity in Western Europe, using a sample of manufacturing firms from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, observed over the period 2009–2014. The results indicate that regional institutional quality positively affects firms' labour productivity and that government effectiveness is the most important institutional determinant of productivity levels. However, how institutions shape labour productivity depends on the type of firm considered. Smaller, less capital endowed and high-tech sectors are three of the types of firms whose productivity is most favourably affected by good and effective institutions at the regional level.     

考虑规模经济影响的建筑业全要素生产率增长测定

相比于索洛模型,周方模型将全要素生产率变动拆分为规模经济影响和科技进步两项,更适合于中国建筑业。选取建筑业增加值作为产出,建筑业从业人员劳动报酬和福利之和作为劳动投入,固定资产和流动资产之和作为资本投入,估计中国建筑业的生产函数。针对1993 年到2009 年的统计数据,测定了全要素生产率增长率,规模经济增长率,科技进步增长率。结果发现由于规模不经济的影响,科技进步贡献不高,全要素生产率年增长平均为负,中国建筑业经济增长质量较差。     

Entrepreneurship and spatial externalities: Theory and measurement

The paper presents an empirical analysis on the role played by urbanisation and localisation economies on factor productivity of firms. A vast literature exists on this issue, conceptually presenting reasons supporting either industry size or city size as sources of external advantages. In general, the empirical analyses are based on the estimates of aggregate city or industry production functions; the limited hypotheses characterising these studies have suggested to test another methodology, based on the estimate of a production function at the firm level, and calculate how factor productivity changes according to different degrees of urbanisation and localisation economies. The methodology is applied to firms chosen in the high-tech sector, which demonstrates a high spatial concentration in particular areas of the Metropolitan Area of Milan. The result is that factor productivity is influenced by both urbanisation and localisation economies, but the latter show an increasing positive effect on factor productivity. Moreover, the size of firms plays an important role in defining the impact of urbanisation and localisation economies on firms' outcome.     

基于契约治理的建筑业企业间技术合作与创新绩效研究

建筑业的技术创新与制造业不同,具有组织临时性和分散性的特征,阻碍了知识的交流与创新绩效的提高。基于国内建筑业企业的技术合作实践调查,从契约治理的视角探讨了技术合作对创新绩效的影响机制。研究结果显示,建筑业企业间的技术合作会显著促进创新绩效的提高,但在不同的治理机制下对创新绩效产生不一样的影响:正式契约治理会倒U 型调节建筑业企业间的技术合作对创新绩效的正向影响,关系契约会线性强化建筑业企业间的技术合作对创新绩效的正向影响。建筑业企业间的技术合作应与特定形式的契约治理机制相配合,才能取得更好的创新绩效。     

我国东西部地区建筑业发展的差距与对策

根据统计资料,本文对近年我国东西部地区建筑业企业总体运营状况、建筑产业结构特征、生产力水平、企业利润情况等方面进行了分析.研究表明,与东部相比,西部地区建筑业企业存在产值规模小、专业化水平低、建筑业企业所有制多元化程度滞后、企业利润和劳动生产率偏低等问题.西部地区建筑业企业应抓住全社会对建筑业需求较大和西部大开发的机遇,加快建筑业企业改制、鼓励非公有制经济的发展、学习东部地区先进的管理经验、吸引人才.     

Market strategies and core capabilities in the building industry

The objective of this study is to show that the core competence approach has validity when applied to construction. The focus is on the analysis of the fit between market strategies of firms in the building industry and their core capabilities. Certain strategies require specific core capabilities and key external and internal conditions supporting these capabilities. The resource-based approach focuses on the conditions in a firm, the internal capabilities, and supports a core capability that is demanded. The network literature will be related to external conditions that support a core capability of a firm active in a certain market. In a multiple case study, firms are analysed that are involved in different stages of the building process. The case studies demonstrate firms with consistent patterns of market strategies, core capabilities, and supporting internal and external conditions. The specific core capability of the firm under investigation determines the types of external and internal conditions that are critical.     

An empirical analytical framework for agglomeration economies

This paper proposes an empirical analytical framework for agglomeration economies based on a translog production-inverse input demand system. Estimation of the system allows us to identify effects on total factor productivity (TFP), partial factor productivity, factor prices and factor demands. It also provides a decomposition of the aggregate agglomeration elasticity into returns that arise from the increased efficiency of factor inputs and a “direct” agglomeration effect which exists over and above any factor augmentation. This enables us to indirectly address the problem of unobserved heterogeneity in factor “quality”. The paper provides an empirical application of the model using firm level data for UK manufacturing and service industries.